Legislate the spending limits of political parties to fight corruption

General News on Friday, July 26, 2019

Source: GNA

2019-07-26

Dr. Kwesi Jonah, senior researcher at the Institute for Democratic Governance (IDEG), advocated for legislation to seal the expenses of political parties, especially presidential candidates.

This would reduce the political advantage badociated with the occupation of the political post, parties with public resources to finance their political activities, their sources of funding being unknown and undisclosed.

He described the situation as a disadvantage of the fight against corruption related to the existence of political party financiers, who seek to recover the financial investments made in political parties before, during and after the election campaigns.

He made the remarks at the eighth annual Sandwich Thematic Conference held Thursday by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).

It was on the theme "Paving the way for a peaceful, free and fair election 2020: The role of the state and non-state actors".

Mr Jonah said other laws on party financing, sources of supply and disbursements need to be applied rigorously in order to contribute to a better understanding by citizens of electoral politics in the country.

Applying some of the disadvantages of Ghana's democratic gains, he condemned the practice of the "Winner Takes All" governance system in the country, saying that "the continuity of this governance practice remains a threat to the country's democracy because it Would not help Ghana to reach the heights of its development.

Many Ghanaians have condemned this practice and called at the end of the system, so that positions are not given to deserving non-partisan members who can better defend national interests.

The continuity of this governance, he observed, was a threat to the country's democracy because it would not help Ghana to reach the peak of its development.

Mr. Jonah also stressed the need to put an end to the vigilance of political parties to ensure that this practice is approached "boldly and sincerely", stressing that this phenomenon poses a serious threat to national security.

According to him, the activities of these groups include the seizure of the management of public property such as public toilets, toll booths, among others, when their parties were in power, poses a serious threat to national security.

He called on the Electoral Commission (EC) to ensure the strict application of the country's electoral laws, so that only political parties able to comply with these laws can exist.

According to him, the idea of ​​setting up strong institutions was to enforce all the rules.

Regarding the empowerment of women, he said that the legislative arm of the government still had not reached the 30% threshold set by the United Nations, the proportion of women in the Ghanaian Parliament still oscillating around 10% of the total number of its members. House.

He said it was important to empower women to participate in the decision-making process in order to create a balance and encourage them to defend their personal values ​​instead of following what others believed, even when that put them badly at ease.

Expressing on the security problems that Ghana faces and its consequences for the holding of peaceful, free and fair elections in 2020, Colonel Festus Aboagye (Rtd) reiterated the need to control vigilance for preserve national peace.

In particular, he asked the security agencies, especially the police, to perform their duties with integrity, professionalism, reliability and righteousness, imperative to establish public confidence in the security agencies.

"I urge security agencies to demonstrate integrity in the performance of your duty. I expect them to be exceptional and diligent in their work – never compromise on your integrity and professionalism; because if you lose it, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to restore it, "he added.